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Mechanicians' Guild
| upkeep_cost = | sells_for = | effects = Increases by 50% of the total output of the town's citizens. | building_unlock = | unit_unlock = }} The Mechanicians' Guild is a type of Town Building. The Mechanicians' Guild may only be built by 6 races, including the High Elves, High Men, Nomads, Orcs, Beastmen and Dark Elves. A town must must already contain both a Miners' Guild and a University in order to construct a Mechanicians' Guild. The Mechanicians' Guild's base construction cost is . The Mechanicians' Guild gives a bonus of equal to 50% of the total amount of currently generated by the town's citizens, improving construction speed of all other buildings and units. This bonus is cumulative with similar bonuses given by other Town Buildings, including the Miners' Guild. Unlike the Miners' Guild however, the Mechanicians' Guild does not improve bonuses from Minerals. For all 6 races that have access to the Mechanicians' Guild, this building immediately unlocks a new unit - the Catapult. This is a useful siege engine, which can hurt both City Walls and enemy units with its accurate Long Range attack. The Mechanicians' Guild requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn for its maintenance. If you're pressed for Gold, a Mechanicians' Guild can be sold back for . Description Extensive mining operations in a town's vicinity, carried out by the Miners' Guild, uncover the various problems that mines face every day: how to construct sturdy supports and tunnels that do not collapse under the weight of the earth, and how to remove large quantities of dirt and ore from underneath the ground. The need to improve the efficiency of mines, combined with the awesome benefits of scholarly studies into mechanics at the University, leads to the creation of a guild of specialists - the Mechanicians' Guild - where they can concentrate their efforts into improving both machinery and technology. The Mechanicians' Guild itself is a simple but imposing tower, perfectly round, constructed of grey stone. A deep moat is dug around the tower, with a drawbridge providing access into the building. This is done to provide protection for the Mechanicians' Guild, as it would be a prime target for any invading force. Races and Construction Only 6 out of the 7 "advanced races" have access to the Mechanicians' Guild. They are the High Elves, High Men, Nomads, Orcs, Beastmen and Dark Elves. Other races lack the ingenuity to work with such advanced machinery, or (as in the case of the Dwarves) already use superior technology as part of their tradition. A town requires the both the Miners' Guild and the University in order to construct a Mechanicians' Guild. As explained above, it is the existence of these structures that creates the need for such a guild and the means to facilitate its technological research. If either structure is missing, the Mechanicians' Guild cannot be built. In fact, either structure is lost or sold off while the Mechanicians' Guild is still in construction, the project will be canceled prematurely and cannot be restarted until these required buildings are rebuilt. Unlike the Miners' Guild that precedes it, the Mechanicians' Guild does not actually require any Mountains or Hills within the town's catchment area. Since the Miners' Guild is a prerequisite for the Mechanicians' Guild however, virtually any town that has a Mechanicians' Guild also has such Terrain nearby. Still, it means that spells like Change Terrain can be used to flatten the area around a town after the Miners' Guild has been constructed, and still be able to build the Mechanicians' Guild. There are, however, few good reasons to do so. Construction of a Mechanicians' Guild costs , making it one of the more expensive Town Buildings. Nonetheless, the boost to is extremely valuable for unit-production centers, as well as any town that wishes to develop more rapidly along other building branches. Continuous Effects The presence of a Mechanicians' Guild in a town increases output by a great amount, cumulative with the same bonus given by the Miners' Guild and similar structures. Production Bonus While a Mechanicians' Guild exists in a town, it will boost the output of this town. Essentially it increases the productivity of each worker by 50% - though the percentage applies to the total production of all citizens put together, rather than individually. In other words, the game looks at the total of all citizens in the town, and then the Mechanicians' Guild produces exactly 50% of this - rounded down. The extra is listed separately in the Production Breakdown chart, so the Mechanicians' Guild's effect is clearly visible there. For example, if the town's citizens yield a total of , the Mechanicians' Guild will add a bonus . If they yield a total of , the Mechanicians' Guild will add (45 * 50%, rounded down). The bonus is automatically adjusted whenever the citizens' output is changed for whatever reason. Therefore, if a town grows or diminishes in size, or its citizens are redistributed, the benefits of the Mechanicians' Guild will rise and fall respectively. This bonus is calculated based only on the total generated by the citizens - ignoring any other bonuses or other sources of a town may get. For example, the presence or absence of a Sawmill -- which also increases -- does not affect the bonus from the Mechanicians' Guild in any way. Note that this bonus is cumulative with any other similar bonus given by other Town Buildings. The Miners' Guild, which is a prerequisite for the Mechanicians' Guild, also gives a bonus - so together the two structures yield exactly 100% of the generated by the town's citizens. Unlocked Town Buildings The Mechanicians' Guild is the end of its developmental branch, and unlocks no new Town Buildings for construction. Of course, the boosted output given by the Mechanicians' Guild enables a town to develop faster along other branches. Unlocked Normal Units For all Races that can construct it, the Mechanicians' Guild unlocks a single new unit: the Catapult. This is a Ranged Attack unit that is very different from Bowmen or other similar units. It launches , which are powerful enough to crush walls, making this an important siege engine. A Catapult's task is to fire at the enemy town's walls to punch holes in them - allowing other Walking units to enter a walled town and depriving the defenders of much-needed protection. The Catapult can also do good damage to enemy units, especially well-armored creatures. Strategy With its powerful bonus, added to the one already acquired from the Miners' Guild, the Mechanicians' Guild gives a massive boost to the speed at which a town constructs new Town Buildings and Normal Units. This makes the Mechanicians' Guild an extremely useful building to have in any developed town, regardless of its dedicated purpose. The only towns that do not benefit so much are those dedicated to Farming, and even they could use a boost to productivity in order to complete high-end -boosting projects. Unit-production centers arguably benefit the most from this structure. Cutting the time to produce a new Normal Unit by even a turn or two could allow an empire to overwhelm its enemies easily. Unit-production centers tend to also have high output to begin with, so a 50% bonus simply cannot be ignored. Also remember that Catapults can be very useful tools in most armies. Intellectual, commercial, and religious centers may wish to construct a Mechanicians' Guild before attempting to build high-end projects like the Wizards' Guild or Merchants' Guild - possibly cutting the construction time of these buildings by a high margin. Of course, discretion is required as to the exact timing of building the Mechanicians' Guild project - it may or may not be that beneficial too early-on in a town's development. Of course, since the Mechanicians' Guild requires the University, it only becomes available when a town is already well-developed. In other words, the moment to build this guild may in fact be the moment it becomes available. Category: Town Buildings